Trans youth support charity Mermaids has raised thousands of pounds through an online fundraising appeal, which it opened due to an ongoing investigation “significantly impacting” its resources.
Mermaids’ campaign says the Charity Commission’s statutory inquiry into the organisation, which began at the end of 2022, is “significantly impacting our services, staff and volunteer wellbeing, our reputation, and our finances”.
“Securing funding is increasingly difficult, and corporate partners are hesitant to work with us due to potential backlash,” it says.
The campaign has so far raised more than £16,000 out of an original target of £20,000.
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “Our inquiry into Mermaids remains ongoing and as such, we can’t comment further.
“Our inquiries conclude only when we are satisfied that all regulatory concerns have been sufficiently investigated and resolved.”
Background to appeal
The Commission opened a compliance case into Mermaids in September 2022, at which point the National Lottery Community Fund paused its funding to the charity, and upgraded this to a full inquiry shortly afterwards.
Its investigation is considering whether the charity’s governance is appropriate in relation to its activities, which involve vulnerable children and young people, as well as their families.
Mermaids would not provide figures on how much its fundraising had been affected by the inquiry.
The charity’s overall income has increased each year from £715,000 in 2018-19 to £2.29m in the year to March 2023.
Earlier this year, the Commission reshared a critical post on social media about Mermaids, which it said was in error.
The post on X, formerly known as Twitter, read that Mermaids is “responsible for so much harm”.
Mermaids appointed Lauren Stoner as its CEO in February this year after she had spent more than a year as its interim leader.
She replaced Susie Green, who was Mermaids’ permanent CEO for six years.
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